An extract on #misspsychocat

Although the saying "Leef en laat leven" or "Live and let live" summarises the Dutch and especially the Amsterdam open and tolerant society, the increased influx of religions and cultures after the Second World War, has on a number of occasions strained social relations. With 180 different nationalities, Amsterdam is home to one of the widest varieties of nationalities of any city in the world. The proportion of the population of immigrant origin in the city proper is about 50% and 88% of the population are Dutch citizens.
The city has been at times marked by ethnic tension. In 2004 film director Theo van Gogh was murdered in Amsterdam. In line with attitude changes in Dutch politics towards certain minorities, Turkish-language and Arabic-language TV channels have been dropped from the basic cable TV package. In recent years, politicians are actively discouraged from campaigning in minority languages to encourage assimilation. In the local elections of 2010 politicians were criticised by current Amsterdam mayor Mr Van der Laan (then Minister of Integration) for distributing election leaflets in minority languages and in some cases leaflets were collected. Due to this alleged anti-multicultural stand, Van der Laan has been accused of hypocrisy by his own party's PvdA main candidate. Also during the same period, possibly due to his belief in integration via (possibly not always voluntary) assimilation, Amsterdam has been one of the municipalities in the Netherlands which provided immigrants with extensive and free Dutch-language courses, which have benefited many immigrants.

Amsterdam has three main theatre buildings.
The Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam at the Leidseplein is the home base of Toneelgroep Amsterdam. The current building dates from 1894. Most plays are performed in the Grote Zaal (Great Hall). The normal programme of events encompasses all sorts of theatrical forms. The Stadsschouwburg is currently being renovated and expanded. The third theatre space, to be operated jointly with next door Melkweg, will open in late 2009 or early 2010.
Dutch National Opera and Ballet (formerly known as Het Muziektheater), dating from 1986, is the principal opera house and home to Dutch National Opera and Dutch National Ballet.
Royal Theatre Carr was built as a permanent circus theatre in 1887 and is currently mainly used for musicals, cabaret performances and pop concerts.
The recently re-opened DeLaMar Theater houses the more commercial plays and musicals.
Also a new theatre has moved into Amsterdam scene in 2014, joining other established venues. Theater Amsterdam, situated in the west part of Amsterdam, Danzigerkade 5 / Westpoortnummer 2036 1013 AP Amsterdam. It's a modern building with a panoramic view over the harbour. The theatre is the first ever purpose-built venue to showcase a single play entitled ANNE, the play based on Anne Frank's life.
On the east side of town there is a small theatre in a converted bath house, the Badhuistheater. The theatre often has English programming.
The Netherlands has a tradition of cabaret or kleinkunst, which combines music, storytelling, commentary, theatre and comedy. Cabaret dates back to the 1930s and artists like Wim Kan, Wim Sonneveld and Toon Hermans were pioneers of this form of art in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam is the Kleinkunstacademie (English: Cabaret Academy). Contemporary popular artists are Youp van 't Hek, Freek de Jonge, Herman Finkers, Hans Teeuwen, Theo Maassen, Herman van Veen, Najib Amhali, Raoul Heertje, Jrgen Raymann, Brigitte Kaandorp and Comedytrain. The English spoken comedy scene was established with the founding of Boom Chicago in 1993. They have their own theatre at Leidseplein.